Farmers Say in Difficult Situation, Still Waiting for Subsidies

Prospects for Serbian Agriculture: Bad Weather Damages Crops

President of the Alliance of Associations of Banat Farmers Dragan Kleut said on Sept. 14 that the situation in agriculture was extremely difficult, and that farmers were losing money on all crops and that not all of the subsidies that they were owed had been paid despite it being near the end of the year.

He told BETA that some farmers had received some subsidies, while few of them had received all of them, and the rest none, even for last year's sunflower crops and that they were waiting to be paid by Oct. 1, the latest of countless deadlines.

"The government is boasting that Serbia is an economic tiger, that we have entered the golden age, and that the subsidies will come in the winter 'for skiing." Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic personally demonstrated how he eats cheap baloney for breakfast as part of 'his basket,' because he says we grew up on it, so we can expect the president to publicly bathe Finance Minister Sinisa Mali next week, to demonstrate how cheaper shampoo is good," Kleut said.

He added that the situation in agriculture was exceptionally difficult, that the prices of agricultural products had fallen so much that they could not cover the costs of production, while seeds, fertilizer and diesel were extremely expensive. "How do we survive in these conditions? It is clear why citizens are leaving both cities and villages and going abroad," Kleut said.